1. Field of the Disclosure
This invention relates in general to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to an image forming apparatus employing an improved fully active retard feeder (FAR).
2. Description of Related Art
In reprographic machines, an important operation involves the feeding of copy sheets. One device for accomplishing this act is a retard feeder, such as, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,464,923. It is generally accepted that a fully active retard feeder works better after the first few sheets have been fed. This may be due to heat build up in the feed rolls giving the rolls a higher coefficient of friction. Another possibility could be that due to scuffing of rolls against each other cleaning away any surface debris that would give a drop in coefficient of friction. Additionally, the rolls tend to take a “set” when left in one position overnight, but once they start to revolve this “set” is eliminated. A problem with the FAR feeder is that this poor feeding of the first few sheets can lead to skipped pitches and/or misfeeds.
Given that the vast majority of customer jobs run only a few pages in length, performance improvement in FAR feeders is a necessity.